Book 4: Chapter 85: Zhang Sanfeng

“Taiji’s Zhang Sanfeng?”

Nearly everyone in the city raised their eyebrows in confusion.

“Who is Zhang Sanfeng? I know about Taiji, but when did a person called Zhang Sanfeng appear in this world?” Li Shenji looked at Ye Shenzhen.

“Zhang Sanfeng? Taiji? Could he be someone from my Myriad Age Daoist Sect’s Supreme Ascendant’s line of inheritance?” Gongyang Sheng looked at Ye Shenzhen.

Long Shenwu likewise looked at Ye Shenzhen.

Ye Shenzhen: “…”

Ye Shenzhen really did not know. Although the Divine Night Guards dealt in intelligence, he had never heard of Zhang Sanfeng before.

However, with that earlier sword movement having such power, how could this person not be famous? Ye Shenzhen felt confused as well.

“My brother-in-law is incredible!” Long Wanyu appeared cocky.

In the city, Fairy Waner’s face revealed a trace of mixed emotions.

“The Taiji Dao? My Supreme Ascendant’s line of inheritance is the most perfect in my Myriad Age Daoist Sect. Why does Gu Hai have such a level of comprehension of it? Zhang Sanfeng? Is he from my Supreme Ascendant’s line of inheritance?” Fairy Waner appeared confused.

The sword movement’s redirection of the arrows immediately inflicted nearly ten thousand casualties on the Divine Blood Army.

The experts of the Divine Blood Army now showed sullen expressions.

The Second Battalion commander stared at Zhang Sanfeng, the white-clad old man.

“Humph! You only used a trick. Stop the arrows, and attack together. Rip him apart!” the Second Battalion commander shouted.

“Hoo-ah!” the soldiers shouted in unison.

The soldiers immediately drew their weapons and spurred their horses to rush at Zhang Sanfeng, whom Gu Hai manifested.

Gu Hai narrowed his eyes slightly as a grave look flashed in his eyes.

Zhang Sanfeng was limited by the ritual array, unable to go too far from it, so he could not charge at the Second Battalion commander. He could only passively deal with the enemy. Fortunately, Gu Hai manifested Zhang Sanfeng this time. The Taiji Sword and Taiji Fist specialized in reacting to attacks.

As the soldiers charged over, Zhang Sanfeng swung his sword around, making the Taiji sword qi spin around him faster. Now, he looked like a round ball.

“Those who killed my brothers must die!” a soldier charging at the front shouted. Then, a huge manifested saber rushed at Zhang Sanfeng’s face.

Zhang Sanfeng immediately countered with his sword.

Clang!

The sword and the saber clashed.

“Die!” That soldier glared as he put all his strength into this attack.

However, when that soldier swung his saber down, he suddenly felt like Zhang Sanfeng’s sword was soft rather than the hard it should be. Zhang Sanfeng redirected the attack with his sword, sending that soldier’s manifested saber in a different trajectory without any loss in its power; it then flew to another soldier.

“General, why did you attack me?!”

“Argh!”

A miserable cry rang out. That general had killed one of his own men.

Far away, Ye Shenzhen and the others goggled.

The battle between Mo Yike and the First Battalion commander also paused for a moment as both looked to the northern sector of the city.

Countless soldiers surrounded Zhang Sanfeng, swinging their sabers at him. The saber qi was like a sea, forming a net closing in on him.

Zhang Sanfeng spun on the spot, raising a ball-shaped whirlwind as he swung his sword.

“The circle spins as one pleases, achieving much with little effort!” Zhang Sanfeng shouted.

The surrounding sword qi followed Zhang Sanfeng’s sword, suddenly striking the many manifested sabers. The force used against each manifested saber was not much, but it diverted the manifested sabers from their original trajectories. While these attacks initially flew at Zhang Sanfeng, they ended up flying towards the Divine Blood Army’s men.

“Hey?! My manifested saber changed trajectory?!”

“Quickly dodge!”

“You attacked in the wrong direction, injuring me!”

Boom!

A sky-shattering noise rang out. Zhang Sanfeng remained in place but instantly took down five hundred soldiers along with their horses. The manifested sabers chopped up most of them; only a few managed to survive with severe injuries.

More importantly, the attacks that they suffered did not come from Zhang Sanfeng but their own people.

This set off a loud commotion in the city.

“The circle spins as one pleases? Achieving much with little effort?”

“I can tell that Zhang Sanfeng did not use much force!”

“Right. Even I can bring out that much force. However, Mister Gu can make Zhang Sanfeng take down five hundred soldiers with just that?”

Countless citizens looked at Gu Hai and Zhang Sanfeng in pleasant surprise.

However, Gongyang Sheng narrowed his eyes. “Achieving much with little effort? Taiji? Borrowing force to attack? Doesn’t this mean that the more opponents there are, the better it is for Zhang Sanfeng?”

“The more people there are, the more advantageous for Zhang Sanfeng?” Long Shenwu narrowed his eyes slightly as well.

“Using another person’s force to kill others. This sword technique is very queer. If there are too few people, Zhang Sanfeng will have problems. On the other hand, more people will make things easier for Zhang Sanfeng?” Ye Shenzhen raised his eyebrows slightly.

“Of course! That is my brother-in-law for you!” Long Wanyu said cockily, appearing pleased like she had just drunk a bowl of iced water in summer.

——

In the city, Fairy Waner also goggled.

“Is Zhang Sanfeng really from my Supreme Ascendant’s line of inheritance? Why do I not know that the Supreme Ascendant’s line of inheritance has such a strange sword technique?” Fairy Waner appeared somewhat confused.

Zhang Sanfeng’s first move had injured or killed ten thousand or so soldiers and horses. Now, he used one move, achieving much with little effort—a harvest of five hundred casualties.

——

On the other side, the Divine Blood Army soldiers’ faces sank.

“Kill!” the soldiers bellowed.

A large number of soldiers charged at Zhang Sanfeng again.

Zhang Sanfeng brandished his sword, bringing out the Taiji Dao to its limits. He did not avoid the soldiers charging over. After all, the Zhang Sanfeng manifested by the ritual array possessed the power of a Middle Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator. Furthermore, there was this strange Taiji Sword. These allowed him to sweep his way through this army.

“Argh!”

“Argh!”

“Argh!”

The miserable cries from soldiers being injured by friendly fire kept ringing out. Even though these soldiers worked as one with their horses, which greatly increased their might, the Taiji Dao did not clash head-on with them. Instead, the Taiji Dao took the soft approach, using softness to counter hardness, achieving much with little effort, borrowing force to attack, and remaining unaffected by external factors.

The soft sword technique made it look like Zhang Sanfeng reaped the soldiers’ lives as easily as chopping vegetables.

The rate of killing flabbergasted everyone—both inside and outside the city.

Of course, Gu Hai’s greatest harvest was with his Karmic Energy Mending Heaven pool.

The various sinful souls filled with negative Karmic Energy entered the Karmic Energy pool and quickly transformed into Mending Heaven Energy that gushed into the Mending Heaven Energy pool. Killing one person here was better than killing one thousand evil men like those that Gu Hai had killed before.

Zhang Sanfeng continued to sweep through the army.

Far in the distance, the Second Battalion commander could no longer keep watching. My subordinates are not charging forward so that you can kill them!

Only how long has passed, yet another ten thousand of my unrivaled subordinates, who have experienced hundreds of battles, have died or gotten injured?

“Humph! Our souls have not returned to their proper places yet. Otherwise, you would not act so rampant now!” the Second Battalion commander snorted coldly.

“Neigh!”

The Second Battalion commander’s large horse let out a loud whinny, carrying him towards Gu Hai.

“Where are you going?!” Qin Zibai shouted.

“Keep an eye on him!” the Second Battalion commander snorted coldly.

“Fire arrows!”

Many arrows promptly flew at Qin Zibai. His expression changed. He was already severely injured in the first place, and he did not have Zhang Sanfeng’s ability to achieve much with little effort; he could only dodge.

Whiz! Whiz!

“Make way!” the Second Battalion commander shouted.

The soldiers surrounding Zhang Sanfeng parted immediately, allowing the Second Battalion commander to face Zhang Sanfeng.

Thud!

The second battalion commander jumped off his horse and took a deep breath.

Wheeeew!

The Second Battalion commander’s body suddenly expanded, reaching the same size as Zhang Sanfeng in the blink of an eye.

“One-on-one, brat. Let’s see you try turning my strength on myself!” the Second Battalion commander sneered.

The gigantic figure gave off a devastating aura.

Gu Hai’s face sank. He could make out ferocity in the Second Battalion commander’s eyes, not berserk rage. A berserk rage resulted in emotions overruling rationality. However, these ferocious eyes appeared incredibly calm.

Calm? A calm fury?

Gu Hai instantly understood that this person still did not think much of Zhang Sanfeng’s strength. Given this, this person might command the soldiers to ignore Zhang Sanfeng and charge into the city.

Gu Hai’s purpose was not to kill the enemy but to block the Second Battalion. Killing was insufficient.

Shing!

Zhang Sanfeng suddenly sheathed his sword, and the sword disappeared.

“Oh?” The Second Battalion commander narrowed his eyes.

Countless people in the city appeared confused.

“Why did Zhang Sanfeng put away his sword?”

“That Second Battalion commander is wielding a saber!”

“Is he giving up, knowing that he cannot win? That’s impossible!”

However, Zhang Sanfeng suddenly revealed a faint smile. “I only use a sword when facing many people. If I use a sword to deal with you alone, wouldn’t that just be bullying?”

“Huh?” This startled the surrounding citizens.

The Second Battalion commander’s face sank. He could tell that Zhang Sanfeng was mocking him.

To think that you want to fight my saber barehanded in a battle to the death?

“You are just seeking death!” the Second Battalion commander snorted coldly. Indeed, this action had irritated him. Then, he suddenly swung his saber.

However, Zhang Sanfeng waved, and the surrounding sword qi disappeared. Then, wind revolved around Zhang Sanfeng, still maintaining a Taiji diagram.

When the saber approached, Zhang Sanfeng did not move back. Instead, he stepped forward.

“Seizing the Sparrow’s Tail!”

Zhang Sanfeng quickly grabbed the Second Battalion commander’s wrist. However, rather than clashing head-on, he pulled on the wrist, using the Second Battalion commander’s force and adding to it.

[TL Note: Seizing the Sparrow’s Tail is a move in the Yang-style Taiji Fist. In the simplified Taiji Fist, it is the seventh and eighth moves out of twenty-four, the left and right variations. However, it is the third move out of eighty-five in the full version. Here is a practical demonstration of it along with follow-up variations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJt0nfNxX00.]

“Single Whip!”

With one pull and one push, the Second Battalion commander got flung out by his own strength.

[TL Note: Single Whip is another move of the Taiji Fist. It is the ninth move in the simplified Taiji Fist. Below is a video that shows the practical usage of Single Whip in a few variations. You will notice that the instructor in the video follows up from Seizing the Sparrow’s Tail. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSboXY48Ryc.]

“What?” The Second Battalion commander’s expression changed.

He did not expect to be flung away. More importantly, he flung himself away?

How is this possible?

The Second Battalion commander turned his body in midair, trying to recover.

However, Zhang Sanfeng’s hand had not stopped moving. He grabbed the foot of the flung-out Second Battalion commander.

“Wild Horse’s Parted Mane!”

[TL Note: Wild Horse’s Parted Mane is the second move in the simplified Taiji Fist. Unfortunately, I cannot find a video that demonstrates only this in practical combat. So, here is a video with all twenty-four moves used in practical combat applications. The link is timestamped to when Wild Horse’s Parted Hair starts, which ends at around two minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d16w1sHOR48&t=69s.]

Zhang Sanfeng actually borrowed the force from the Second Battalion commander twisting his body, and attacked again with the borrowed force, flinging him to the ground.

Boom!

The ground shook as the Second Battalion commander crashed in a pitiful state.

However, the Second Battalion commander was experienced; he did not forget to swing his saber at Zhang Sanfeng the instant he got back to his feet.

“Fake Close!”

[TL Note: Fake Close is the twenty-second move of the simplified Taiji Fist. Here is a video of it, but the video calls it by a different name in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cYhwwOVcho.]

Boom!

Zhang Sanfeng seemed practiced at this. He chained move after move. As the Second Battalion commander’s saber swung over, Zhang Sanfeng extended his hand and instantly diverted the saber from its original trajectory, sending it towards the Second Battalion commander’s crotch.

“Ah!”

Boom!

The Second Battalion commander let out a startled cry as he dropped his saber. He bowed his body back before retreating far away from Zhang Sanfeng.

That had been a close shave earlier.

The frightened Second Battalion commander trembled from head to foot.

The clash between the two ended in the time it took for a spark to fly.

The Second Battalion commander appeared to be in a pitiful state. He had tossed aside his saber and dodged miserably.

However, Zhang Sanfeng had merely used a set of soft movements at a leisurely pace.

Countless cultivators in the city goggled.

It was truly a set of soft fist movements. However, it seemed to make use of many coincidences to bully the Second Battalion commander into humiliating vulnerability.

Zhang Sanfeng’s movements were very slow, so slow that everyone saw them clearly. However, no one could figure out how this slow fist technique defeated the Second Battalion commander.

No one knew that Zhang Sanfeng’s specialty was actually the Taiji Fist. The Taiji Sword was just a branch of the Taiji Fist. Without the sword, his strength would not decline but increase.

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